Municipal Lawyer Targeted in Hit-Man Hire Praises FBI 'Angels'

Brandt, a lawyer with Fanning Harper Martinson Brandt & Kutchin, tells Texas Lawyer’s Tex Parte Blog he never imagined that routine municipal law work could endanger his life. He received a rude awakening when the FBI told him he had been targeted, along with the mayor of Arlington, Texas, because of his work on a nuisance suit against a Texas nightclub.

A nightclub co-owner, Ryan Walker Grant, pleaded guilty to murder for hire last week, according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and Courthouse News Service. Grant was accused of contacting an intermediary—who turned out to be an informant—and offering to pay $10,000 each for the murders. Grant’s lawyer has said his client was frustrated, and hadn’t truly wanted to harm the men.

Brandt told Tex Parte he’s learned a couple things from the unsettling experience. “I was taught by nuns when I was a kid,” he said. “I was told that angels look out for us. And I learned two things: The nuns were right, and some of the angels work for the FBI. Those guys saved my life, and I’m grateful to them. And how do you thank someone for saving your life?”